Submarine vessel



June 9, 1925' F. RIES SUBMARINE VESSEL Filed Dec. 26'. 1924 ,5 a Q m 5 MPatented June 9, 1925.

FREDERICK RIES, OF COMPTON, CALIFORNIA.

SU'BMARINE VESSEL.

Application filed December 26, 1924. Serial No. 757,988.

To all M: 71 m it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK Rms, acitizen of the United States, residing at Compton, in the county of LosAngeles and State of California, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Submarine Vessels, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a submarine vessel, and has for its principalobject, the provision of a relatively simple and efficient neans forcausing the vessel to submerge and move downwardly in the water to thedesired depth or to move upwardly from a submerged position to thesurface of the water.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby theequipped vessel may be caused to move in a gradual downward or upwarddirection at the same time that it is moving forwardly or rearwardly andsaid means also being effective in causing the vessel to remainpractically station ary at any desired depth of submergence.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts thatwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken lengtlc wise through the center of avessel of my improved construction.

Fig. 2 is a detail section showing one of the propellers that are usedfor causing the equipped vessel to move vertically.

Fig. 3 is a detail section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, designates the hullof a submarine vessel and mounted on the deck 11 thereof at the extremeforward and rear ends are transversely aligned bearings 12 for trunnions13. These trunnions project laterally from spherical members 14 that aremounted for rocking movement in sockets 15 and which latter are formedbetween bearings 12.

Journalled in each spherical member 14 is a shaft 16, carrying on itsupper end a propeller 17, preferably of the type having two or morecurved or inclined blades. These propeller shafts may be driven in anysuitable manner, but I prefer to mount directly on the lower end of eachshaft, a

reversible motor 18,'preferably electric, anl the weight of which will,to a considerable extent counterbalance the weight of the propeller.

Suitable means must be arranged within the vessel for swinging eachpropeller-carrying shaft upon its axis, (the trunnions 13) and I haveshown a simple and convenient arrangement that includes a fluidpressure-receiving cylinder 19 in which operates a piston and the outerend of the rod of said piston is connected by a suitable link 20 to themotor 18.

Thus, fluid pressure may be utilized for shifting the propeller-carryingshaft 16 from a vertical to an angular position'or vice versa.

The interiorof the vessel may be fitted up in the usual manner,according to the use to which it is put, and in the event that saidvessel is to be used in the salvaging of sunken ships, certaincompartments within the vessels hull may be equipped with deep seadiving paraphernalia.

The usual driving propeller 21 at the stern of the vessel is preferablydriven from a suitably located engine 22, and the latter may be used fordriving an electric generator, the current from which passes intostorage batteries 23.

Current from these storage batteries may be used for the operation ofthe motors 1S.

Suitable water ballast compartments 2% are provided in the lower portionof the vessel.

In the operation of my improved submarine vessel, the motors 18 areoperated by current from the storage batteries 23 or from the generatorthat supplies said batteries and, as the propeller-carrying shafts arerotated, the impingement of the propeller blades on the water will movethe vessel upwardly or downwardly through the water, the direction ofmovement, of course, depending on the direction of rotation of thepropellers.

The vertical or angular positions of the propeller-ca-rrying shafts arecontrolled by the pistons that operate within the fluid pressurecylinders 19.

When the propeller shafts are vertically disposed and operated, thevessel will be moved upward or downward in accordance with the directionof rotation of the propellers and by shifting said shafts into angular 1with its forward or backward travel.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided simple, efficient and readilyoperable means for controlling the upward and downward movements of asubmarine vessel and which provision is particularly advantageous wherethe vessel is used in operations incident to the salvaging of sunkenvessels or in the building of submarine structures such as foundationsfor bridge piers, whar-ves and the like.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form'andconstruction of the various parts of my improved submarine vessel may bemade and substituted for those herein described without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, the scope of which is set forth in theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with asubmarine vessel, of a bearing mounted forrocking movement at the end of the hull of the vessel, an upright shaftournalled in said bearing, the

upper end of which shaft extends a substantial distance above the top ofthe hull, a propeller'monnted on the upper end of said shaft and ,amotor mounted on the lower end of said shaft. 7

2. The combination with a submarine vessel, of a bearing mounted forrocking movemerit at the end of the hull of the vessel, an upright shaftjournalled in said bearing, the upper end of which shaft extends asubstantial distance above the top of the hull. a propeller mounted onthe upperend of said shaft, a motor mounted on the lower end of saidshaft and ower actuated means connected to the lower end of said shaftfor rocking said shaft and its bearing.

'3. The combination with a submarine ves sel, of a shaft journalled in arocking hearing at the end of the hull of the vessel, a propellercarried by the upper end of said shaft, an electric motor carried by thelower end of said shaft and fluid pressure actuated means within thevessel for swinging said shaft in its rocking bearing.

In testimony whereof I affix my signatui e.

FREDERICK RTE-S.

